Warfare in the First World War

Written by Ariane Knüsel

Zeppelin
Contentseyewitness accounts of new types of aerial, naval and trench warfare (planes, zeppelins, trenches, gas, tanks, submarine attacks) and shell shock as a consequence of this new type of warfare
Suitable forGymnasium
Prerequisitescauses of the First World War and events leading up to trench warfare
Time1-3 lessons, depending on how many sources are read

What's it about?

The class can be divided into groups. Each group gets a specific account (e.g. gas/tanks/trench warfare or Red Baron/Zeppelin raid on London) and has to present it to the rest of the class (How does their type of warfare work? How does it change warfare? How does it affect the soldiers?). The texts can be read as standalone sources but they can also be used as an example of this type of warfare after an overview or after watching excerpts from a documentary film, for example parts of an episode from “The First World War in Colour”, narrated by Kenneth Branagh (2003), which has individual episodes on aerial, naval and trench warfare.

Downloads

Warfare in the First World War
Aerial Warfare - The Red Baron - Word [148 KB] Aerial Warfare - The Red Baron - PDF [80 KB] Aerial Warfare - The Red BaronWord [148 KB] · PDF [80 KB]
Gas - Word [164 KB] Gas - PDF [89 KB] GasWord [164 KB] · PDF [89 KB]
Shell Shock - Word [169 KB] Shell Shock - PDF [77 KB] Shell ShockWord [169 KB] · PDF [77 KB]
Submarine Attack - Word [165 KB] Submarine Attack - PDF [86 KB] Submarine AttackWord [165 KB] · PDF [86 KB]
Tanks - Word [168 KB] Tanks - PDF [67 KB] TanksWord [168 KB] · PDF [67 KB]
Trench Warfare - Word [155 KB] Trench Warfare - PDF [103 KB] Trench WarfareWord [155 KB] · PDF [103 KB]
Zeppelin - Word [138 KB] Zeppelin - PDF [85 KB] ZeppelinWord [138 KB] · PDF [85 KB]